Journey Through God's Word

¹There was a man named Nicodemus, a Jewish religious leader who was a Pharisee.

²After dark one evening, he came to speak with Jesus. “Rabbi,” he said, “we all know that God has sent you to teach us. Your miraculous signs are evidence that God is with you.”

³Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God.”

⁴“What do you mean?” exclaimed Nicodemus. “How can an old man go back into his mother’s womb and be born again?”

⁵Jesus replied, “I assure you, no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit.

⁶Humans can reproduce only human life, but the Holy Spirit gives birth to spiritual life.

⁷So don’t be surprised when I say, ‘You must be born again.’

⁸The wind blows wherever it wants. Just as you can hear the wind but can’t tell where it comes from or where it is going, so you can’t explain how people are born of the Spirit.”

⁹“How are these things possible?” Nicodemus asked.

¹⁰Jesus replied, “You are a respected Jewish teacher, and yet you don’t understand these things?

¹¹I assure you, we tell you what we know and have seen, and yet you won’t believe our testimony.

¹²But if you don’t believe me when I tell you about earthly things, how can you possibly believe if I tell you about heavenly things?

¹³No one has ever gone to heaven and returned. But the Son of Man has come down from heaven.

¹⁴And as Moses lifted up the bronze snake on a pole in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up,

¹⁵so that everyone who believes in him will have eternal life.

¹⁶“For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.

¹⁷God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him.

¹⁸“There is no judgment against anyone who believes in him. But anyone who does not believe in him has already been judged for not believing in God’s one and only Son.

¹⁹And the judgment is based on this fact: God’s light came into the world, but people loved the darkness more than the light, for their actions were evil.

²⁰All who do evil hate the light and refuse to go near it for fear their sins will be exposed.

²¹But those who do what is right come to the light so others can see that they are doing what God wants. ”

²²Then Jesus and his disciples left Jerusalem and went into the Judean countryside. Jesus spent some time with them there, baptizing people.

²³At this time John the Baptist was baptizing at Aenon, near Salim, because there was plenty of water there; and people kept coming to him for baptism.

²⁴(This was before John was thrown into prison.)

²⁵A debate broke out between John’s disciples and a certain Jew over ceremonial cleansing.

²⁶So John’s disciples came to him and said, “Rabbi, the man you met on the other side of the Jordan River, the one you identified as the Messiah, is also baptizing people. And everybody is going to him instead of coming to us.”

²⁷John replied, “No one can receive anything unless God gives it from heaven.

²⁸You yourselves know how plainly I told you, ‘I am not the Messiah. I am only here to prepare the way for him.’

²⁹It is the bridegroom who marries the bride, and the bridegroom’s friend is simply glad to stand with him and hear his vows. Therefore, I am filled with joy at his success.

³⁰He must become greater and greater, and I must become less and less.

³¹“He has come from above and is greater than anyone else. We are of the earth, and we speak of earthly things, but he has come from heaven and is greater than anyone else.

³²He testifies about what he has seen and heard, but how few believe what he tells them!

³³Anyone who accepts his testimony can affirm that God is true.

³⁴For he is sent by God. He speaks God’s words, for God gives him the Spirit without limit.

³⁵The Father loves his Son and has put everything into his hands.

³⁶And anyone who believes in God’s Son has eternal life. Anyone who doesn’t obey the Son will never experience eternal life but remains under God’s angry judgment.”

¹“I tell you the truth, anyone who sneaks over the wall of a sheepfold, rather than going through the gate, must surely be a thief and a robber!

²But the one who enters through the gate is the shepherd of the sheep.

³The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep recognize his voice and come to him. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.

⁴After he has gathered his own flock, he walks ahead of them, and they follow him because they know his voice.

⁵They won’t follow a stranger; they will run from him because they don’t know his voice.”

⁶Those who heard Jesus use this illustration didn’t understand what he meant,

⁷so he explained it to them: “I tell you the truth, I am the gate for the sheep.

⁸All who came before me were thieves and robbers. But the true sheep did not listen to them.

⁹Yes, I am the gate. Those who come in through me will be saved. They will come and go freely and will find good pastures.

¹⁰The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.

¹¹“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd sacrifices his life for the sheep.

¹²A hired hand will run when he sees a wolf coming. He will abandon the sheep because they don’t belong to him and he isn’t their shepherd. And so the wolf attacks them and scatters the flock.

¹³The hired hand runs away because he’s working only for the money and doesn’t really care about the sheep.

¹⁴“I am the good shepherd; I know my own sheep, and they know me,

¹⁵just as my Father knows me and I know the Father. So I sacrifice my life for the sheep.

¹⁶I have other sheep, too, that are not in this sheepfold. I must bring them also. They will listen to my voice, and there will be one flock with one shepherd.

¹⁷“The Father loves me because I sacrifice my life so I may take it back again.

¹⁸No one can take my life from me. I sacrifice it voluntarily. For I have the authority to lay it down when I want to and also to take it up again. For this is what my Father has commanded.”

¹⁹When he said these things, the people were again divided in their opinions about him.

²⁰Some said, “He’s demon possessed and out of his mind. Why listen to a man like that?”

²¹Others said, “This doesn’t sound like a man possessed by a demon! Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?”

²²It was now winter, and Jesus was in Jerusalem at the time of Hanukkah, the Festival of Dedication.

²³He was in the Temple, walking through the section known as Solomon’s Colonnade.

²⁴The people surrounded him and asked, “How long are you going to keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly.”

²⁵Jesus replied, “I have already told you, and you don’t believe me. The proof is the work I do in my Father’s name.

²⁶But you don’t believe me because you are not my sheep.

²⁷My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.

²⁸I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one can snatch them away from me,

²⁹for my Father has given them to me, and he is more powerful than anyone else. No one can snatch them from the Father’s hand.

³⁰The Father and I are one.”

³¹Once again the people picked up stones to kill him.

³²Jesus said, “At my Father’s direction I have done many good works. For which one are you going to stone me?”

³³They replied, “We’re stoning you not for any good work, but for blasphemy! You, a mere man, claim to be God.”

³⁴Jesus replied, “It is written in your own Scriptures that God said to certain leaders of the people, ‘I say, you are gods!’

³⁵And you know that the Scriptures cannot be altered. So if those people who received God’s message were called ‘gods,’

³⁶why do you call it blasphemy when I say, ‘I am the Son of God’? After all, the Father set me apart and sent me into the world.

³⁷Don’t believe me unless I carry out my Father’s work.

³⁸But if I do his work, believe in the evidence of the miraculous works I have done, even if you don’t believe me. Then you will know and understand that the Father is in me, and I am in the Father.”

³⁹Once again they tried to arrest him, but he got away and left them.

⁴⁰He went beyond the Jordan River near the place where John was first baptizing and stayed there awhile.

⁴¹And many followed him. “John didn’t perform miraculous signs,” they remarked to one another, “but everything he said about this man has come true.”

⁴²And many who were there believed in Jesus.

¹“Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me.

²There is more than enough room in my Father’s home. If this were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you?

³When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am.

⁴And you know the way to where I am going.”

⁵“No, we don’t know, Lord,” Thomas said. “We have no idea where you are going, so how can we know the way?”

⁶Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.

⁷If you had really known me, you would know who my Father is. From now on, you do know him and have seen him!”

⁸Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied.”

⁹Jesus replied, “Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and yet you still don’t know who I am? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father! So why are you asking me to show him to you?

¹⁰Don’t you believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words I speak are not my own, but my Father who lives in me does his work through me.

¹¹Just believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me. Or at least believe because of the work you have seen me do.

¹²“I tell you the truth, anyone who believes in me will do the same works I have done, and even greater works, because I am going to be with the Father.

¹³You can ask for anything in my name, and I will do it, so that the Son can bring glory to the Father.

¹⁴Yes, ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it!

¹⁵“If you love me, obey my commandments.

¹⁶And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, who will never leave you.

¹⁷He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth. The world cannot receive him, because it isn’t looking for him and doesn’t recognize him. But you know him, because he lives with you now and later will be in you.

¹⁸No, I will not abandon you as orphans — I will come to you.

¹⁹Soon the world will no longer see me, but you will see me. Since I live, you also will live.

²⁰When I am raised to life again, you will know that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you.

²¹Those who accept my commandments and obey them are the ones who love me. And because they love me, my Father will love them. And I will love them and reveal myself to each of them.”

²²Judas (not Judas Iscariot, but the other disciple with that name) said to him, “Lord, why are you going to reveal yourself only to us and not to the world at large?”

²³Jesus replied, “All who love me will do what I say. My Father will love them, and we will come and make our home with each of them.

²⁴Anyone who doesn’t love me will not obey me. And remember, my words are not my own. What I am telling you is from the Father who sent me.

²⁵I am telling you these things now while I am still with you.

²⁶But when the Father sends the Advocate as my representative — that is, the Holy Spirit — he will teach you everything and will remind you of everything I have told you.

²⁷“I am leaving you with a gift — peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid.

²⁸Remember what I told you: I am going away, but I will come back to you again. If you really loved me, you would be happy that I am going to the Father, who is greater than I am.

²⁹I have told you these things before they happen so that when they do happen, you will believe.

³⁰“I don’t have much more time to talk to you, because the ruler of this world approaches. He has no power over me,

³¹but I will do what the Father requires of me, so that the world will know that I love the Father. Come, let’s be going.